chapter dedicated to Justbe1768 thank you soo much for your comment my love!! you made my day!!

: but you and me, we're not friends

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third person's p.o.v:

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She lay beside him, her hazel eyes with grey specks of crystals tracing the contours of his face, reflecting the flickering candlelight as her gaze lingered on the subtle lines etched on his forehead, the faint remnants of that one woman, that stood between them. The aftermath of their intimate encounter left a trail of warmth between them, but something weighed heavily on his mind, something, so cold, something so harsh.

She looked at him as his eyes stared blankly towards the white ceiling, eyes just staring at the nothingness that surrounded them.

There were times when she couldn't help but wonder...

"Why him?"

And the thought of the only girl whom he ever loved came across her mind, as a small bitter smirk spread across her lips.

She could feel the distance, the unspoken words echoing in the silence of the room. Despite the physical closeness, an emotional abyss threatened to swallow them whole. Her slender fingers delicately traced patterns on his chest, a silent plea for him to share the burden he carried.

"Thinking about her?"

Her cerulean silk dress clung to the curves of her body, a testament to the passion that had unfolded. His lean physique lay beside her, a mosaic of vulnerability and strength. The room was adorned with remnants of their connection, scattered clothes, and the lingering scent of shared intimacy.

"I'm never not," he whispered back,

Humans. They were weird. She didn't like them. Yet, she was one.

The similar feeling of something being squeezed at the very center of your chest eloped her, and even so she couldn't help but find herself gazing at him with a mixture of understanding and love. So much love.

Love that made you want to live. Love that could kill.

Despite his inner turmoil, she saw the man she cherished, the one who had ignited a spark in her heart. She sensed his struggles, the unspoken battles that threatened to consume him. Yet, her love remained steadfast, undeterred by the storms raging within him.

"Look at me,"

This time his gaze met hers and she couldn't help but stare into those eyes before they stopped right on those lips.

'No kissing' that's what he said the first time she gave herself to him, and ever since then she had never seen the man not keep his words.

'Why not.' she had asked.

'I can't do it without love,'

Maybe there it was, the very first nail to her coffin of love, but he wasn't hers to have, she wasn't his to be, and even though she knew that one day, this was to come to an end like a beautiful lie,

She knew that yet a part of her would always wonder why,

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ziyanah's p.o.v: 

"I don't like sweets, firefly," he muttered slowly leaning forward, bending down to match my eyes.

"Well then, you'll just have to make an exception for me, Mr Alkazi," I gittered, getting on my toes, with my hands behind my back as I batted my lashes.

I didn't miss the way his jaw clenched as his eyes roamed all around my face as if studying and taking in all of my features in just one long scan. 

I'd be lying if I say nothing about him made me feel intimidated. Hell! I don't even think the man had even a single bone in him that was made to 'not intimidate' people around him. Maybe, it was just his voice, or the way he spoke, or the way he looked at people, or maybe the way he always stood like he's leading some so-called cult behind him, or the way he could even say 'puppy' and make it sound like a threat. I don't know! He was weird... An ironically intimidating kind of weird.

I cleared my throat, stepping back as I flipped my hair. 

"It's done then. Let's go."

What? No reply is a reply, and my 'delulu' mind is gonna take it as a yes.

Or whatever is in my favor.

"I didn't say anything," I didn't miss the slight annoyance in his voice mixed with a hint of amusement, regardless of which I could feel him follow me.

"Guess you didn't figure it out already-" I turned on my tracks, this time walking backward so I could face him as I continued, "-I didn't ask,"

The corner of his lips curved into the slightest of smirks as he raised his right brow, before placing both his hands inside his pant pockets. 

Where did he keep his bag, again? Whatever.

"Are you always this stubborn or do I just bring out the worst in you?"

A laugh escaped my lips at his words.

"Well, I'd like to believe you belong to the luckiest section of the society who gets to see the finest-greatest-foremost-leading-pre-eminent side of The Ziyanah Alit,"

I finished, placing the back of my fingers, right under my chin and throwing my elbows out on either side, grinning, this time making both his brows shoot up.

"You googled the synonyms, didn't you?" was all he replied making me immediately drop the smile and pass him the dirtiest of expressions I could muster. That's what he deserves!

"this bitch-" I muttered under my breath as I shook my head, turning around.

"Anyway! What flavor do you want?" I asked, grabbing the straps of my bag as I hopped down the stairs.

No reply. Rolling my eyes I simply continued.

"Are you more of a chocolate person or vanilla? Let me guess, vanilla! Right!?" He didn't say anything, of course, just continuing to walk, this time, beside me like I didn't even exist.

"Right?? I mean that's actually what you should like if I go by the laws of book boyfriends, anti-heroes, the school bullies, and all, rom-coms included. Not that I aspire to be a stereotypical bitch but yeah! You get the gist?"

Of course, he does! He has the 'I don't even know her' look plastered on his face.

Fine! I won't talk either!

 Rolling my eyes, I sighed before grabbing the sleeves of his shirt in a pinch and making us turn to the next left from the corridor without saying a word.

Truth be told he doesn't even look like he has had ice cream before. 

There was silence for a while and I could finally feel him get a tinny-itty-bitty bothered by it, given I could feel his gaze on the left side of my face before he cleared his throat,

"What's your fav-"

"Finally! I thought you wouldn't ask! Well, I can actually eat any flavor that has chocolate and to be honest vanilla too! Like I like ice creams most of the time, but I absolutely hate any fruity flavour at all. Like I don't think so it's my stick or cone of ice cream, I don't really like fruits in general anyway, but yeah! I usually just switch between vanilla and chocolate because I like sticking to the basics but! I do have a hideous choice of always going for choco-mint and even though everyone keeps saying that it tastes like toothpaste, what they don't get is I kinda like the taste of toothpaste too, so rather than eating toothpaste I'd most naturally like to go for something more edible and eatable right??"

Turning my head I looked at him as we finally walked out of the campus, only to find him staring at me like I was a question so out of the syllabus or something. I clicked my tongue,

"I'm serious! It's really not that bad... You should try!"

"No, I'd stick with vanilla."

"Well finee,"

Crossing the road we finally reached the cutest open ice-cream parlor, and also the only.

"Hii! Can we get two scoops of-"

"One," I rolled my eyes, before passing a tight-lipped smile at the vendor. 

"Can we please get one scoop of plain vanilla and two scoops of choco mint"

 The slightly mid-twenties guy smiled, "Sure, cup or cone?"

"Ouh the mint in cone and-"

I stopped looking at the man beside me, raising a brow,

"I'd take a c--"He stopped the mid-sentence.

"What am I supposed to get with C- one or up?" I replied looking at the other flavors that were on display before I sighed, "Sorry we'll just go for two cups, he's kinda..." I pointed towards my head, "...cracked" The guy chuckled and got to his work while I finally turned my attention to him, and his oh-so-serious expression with a 'pissed' look almost tattooed on his face, which in turn lead me follow his line of vision instead.

Uh-oh

"That's your girlfriend, right?"

My mom always says I've got a big mouth but goddamn I really should work on shutting it up now. 

But why is she talking to some dude in this narrow little street at the very corner though, I've heard some students go for weed there. It's a complete no-no zone. Ou! Is she taking weed.....

Stop judging, Ziyanah!

Nah I wanna try to--

I looked at the curly head on the other side of the road. Kaheesha. That's what her name was I believe, the very diva of the university, if you ask me. She was in fact by far one of the prettiest ladies in here, and she was an influencer too. 

Like a 100k plus followers type. Of course, she had a full-blown fandom in here. You know with the pretty long curly hair, tiny waist, perfect figure, nice teeth, and grey eyes. She was beautiful, Too beautiful. 

As if we were looking too hard I felt her out of the blue take a quick 180, and almost immediately my eyes met that of hers. I didn't miss the way those orbs narrowed as they looked at me before stopping at the man who was on my side instead,

I hope she doesn't get the wrong idea! I'm not stealing anyone's man now! I already lik--

Speaking of which, I immediately felt my mind stop working the moment she shifted on her feet, revealing the very person she was talking to.

Purrfect,

A small lump immediately formed at the back of my throat. 

a. they are just talking and;

b. you're not even his girlfriend, stop being dramatic!

Taking a small sharp breath, I smiled looking at Rohaan the very moment our eyes met as I passed him a little wave, but before I could wait for his response, I felt the sudden gush of air as the man beside me almost in an instant took long strides right in their direction making my eyes widen.

Truth be told I had never seen Kayzaad get angry, yet. I looked at him as he stopped right in front of Rohaan, their eyes staring daggers at each other before Kayzaad muttered something, and just like that, his hand grabbed that of Kaheesha before he semi-dragged her away. 

Trust me when I say, if my brows could ever jump out of my forehead, this was the moment.

Quickly turning away from the scene I looked at the ice-cream guy who seemed just as interested in the drama as me, all the while, holding the two cups in both his hands.

I sighed, good for me. 

"Can we mix them into one?"

He just gave me the dirtiest look possible, making me huff,

"Fine! I'll take it!" I replied throwing my hands in the air

"How much?" 

"Your boyfriend already paid,"  My wha-

"Boyfriend?" 

Have you ever felt your neck just snap in a particular direction so hard that you know for a fact it's gonna hurt like a bitch later? Same.

"Rohaan," Why do I always utter his name with such needy-surprise tone. Eww.

"Am I missing something?" Was all he said before he simply took both the cups from the vendor.

"Ou!" I chuckled, taking the mint from his hand, "No he just misunderstood, basically we won the case we were working for and I wanted to celebrate, so I kind of dragged him here for an ice cream treat. Well it was supposed to be my treat but he already paid and also-"

"Bailed out?" he completed, 

I chuckled taking a bite of my ice cream "Yeah,"

He simply mirrored me but with a hint of mockery, "Sounds like a very Kayzaad thing to me..."

I frowned, chuckling and shrugging, "I'm sure he must have had something important,"

He just shook his head chuckling, "You know, Ziya, sometimes you should learn something from Saisha." he said, his eyes meeting mine.

I just frowned taking a bite of my sweet "Learn what?"

He stopped walking alongside me, "To not always see the good in people and instead see them as they are,"

My steps came to a halt at his words and this time I turned around on my heels, a small smile playing on my lips as I looked at him in the eye.

"Trust me, Rohaan, if I started seeing people only for what they are, I'd not be having this conversation either."

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end of chapter / 16

Currently busy with the mini-est of heartbreaks and an exam, so sorry for the late update babies! To all the few four people reading this bogus shit, I love love love you all the most! Thank you so much my loves! <333

me loves you all the most!!

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it's sheewholoved!